by Claudia Boyd-Barrett posted in Pregnancy

Your risk of getting Zika through sex from an infected partner may be more short-lived than previously thought, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that men infected with Zika are only contagious for about a month after contracting the virus. After that, the infectious Zika particles in their semen appear to clear out, the study found.
Previous data showed genetic traces of the Zika virus could remain in semen as long as 180 days. That's why the CDC currently recommends women wait at least 6 months before trying to get pregnant if their partner has traveled to a Zika-infected region. The agency also says men should refrain from sex or use condoms during that time. Those guidelines remain in place, so you should still follow them. However, the CDC is re-evaluating its advice based on the new study.
 
For the latest research, CDC scientists took semen and urine samples for up to 10 months from more than 180 men infected with Zika. Only 3 samples contained Zika particles that could be infectious, and those particles disappeared after 30 days, the researchers found.
Zika usually causes flu-like symptoms, or no symptoms at all in adults. However, if contracted during pregnancy, it can lead to dangerous birth defects in babies such as microcephaly.
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